{"id":5123,"date":"2018-08-17T18:27:26","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T02:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5123"},"modified":"2018-08-17T18:27:26","modified_gmt":"2018-08-18T02:27:26","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-165","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2018\/08\/17\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-165","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 165"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n<h3>Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n<ol class=\"simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denisonforum.org\/columns\/daily-article\/our-hope-is-coming\/\">Our Hope Is Coming<\/a> (Steven Longoria, Denison Forum): \u201cThe world we live in would tell us that hope is closely tied to doubt. To say \u2018I hope it doesn\u2019t rain tomorrow\u2019 carries with it a fear that it will likely rain\u2026. Biblical hope is something entirely different. It conveys a state of confidence, security, and lack of worry.\u201d Steven is an alumnus of our ministry who is currently studying at Dallas Theological Seminary. Go, Steven!<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.9marks.org\/article\/how-the-state-serves-both-salvation-and-religious-freedom\/?utm_source=eml-article&amp;utm_medium=eml-article&amp;utm_campaign=eml-article\">How the State Serves Both Salvation and Religious Freedom<\/a> (Jonathan Leeman, 9 Marks): \u201cTwo basic kinds of governments, then, show up in the Bible: those that shelter God\u2019s people, and those that destroy them. Abimelech sheltered; Pharoah destroyed. The Assyrians destroyed; the Babylonians and Persians, ultimately, sheltered. Pilate destroyed; Festus sheltered. And depending on how you read Revelation, the history of government will culminate in a beastly slaughter of saintly blood. Romans 13 calls governments servants; Psalm 2 calls them imposters. Most governments contain both. But some are better than others.\u201d Recommended.<\/li>\n<li>#ChurchToo\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/what-would-jesus-do-clean-house-in-the-catholic-church\/2018\/08\/15\/d2e0f496-a0cc-11e8-93e3-24d1703d2a7a_story.html?utm_term=.9d06ee5590a5\">What Would Jesus Do? Clean House In The Catholic Church.<\/a> (Megan McArdle, Washington Post): \u201c[Congregants] do not expect the church to be perfect; even St. Peter, after all, denied Christ three times. But they do expect to find the reflection of Christ there. According to news reports, the church hierarchy in Pennsylvania and beyond has already denied Christ\u2019s gospel three times: once when it sheltered predators in silence; once when it failed to remove everyone who was involved in covering up any crime; and again when two of the six dioceses involved tried to shut down the grand jury investigation that produced the report. Now they face the same choice Peter did.\u201d Straight fire.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/web-exclusives\/2018\/08\/why-men-like-me-should-not-be-priests\">Why Men Like Me Should Not Be Priests<\/a> (Daniel Mattson, First Things): \u201cMost of the horrific abuse detailed in the Pennsylvania Grand Jury report involved adolescent boys and young men. This isn\u2019t pedophilia\u2026. If the Church wants to avoid sex scandals, it must stop ordaining the sorts of men who have the hardest time remaining chaste.\u201d This article is full of details I did not know. Fascinating and no doubt a lightning rod for controvery.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/08\/09\/us\/evangelicals-willow-creek-scandal.html\">How the Willow Creek Church Scandal Has Stunned the Evangelical World<\/a> (Laurie Goodstein, New York Times): \u201cThe sudden resignation of Willow Creek Community Church\u2019s top leaders following sexual harassment allegations against Rev. Bill Hybels, their founding pastor, has shaken evangelicals far from the church\u2019s base in the Chicago suburbs. There are few bigger names in the evangelical world than Mr. Hybels, and few churches more influential than Willow Creek. Christians worldwide looked to it as a model of smart leadership.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>These two scandals are especially interesting when juxtaposed. The Roman Catholic Church is the most hierarchical of denominations with authority flowing down from the Pope. Willow Creek is a nondenominational congregation and is completely independent of external authority. They represent two extremes of church governance and the revelation of their moral failures demonstrate that the problem of sin is not solved by rules. See Colossians 2:20\u201323.<\/li>\n<li>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/politics\/2018\/08\/evangelical-purity-culture-taught-me-to-rationalize-my-sexual-assault\/\">Evangelical Purity Culture Taught Me to Rationalize My Sexual Assault<\/a> (Becca Andrews, Mother Jones): \u201cI understood my role: I was a sexual gatekeeper. Men, we were taught, are burdened by God with insatiable lust. Women, of course, are not, so it makes sense that we are expected to create the boundaries. We are responsible for what we wear, but more broadly, we are tasked with defining consent, as thorny as that may seem\u2026. The stakes are high in purity culture. Every slipup is a strike against any hope of a successful marriage.\u201d Although interesting, the article doesn\u2019t quite make the case that the title implies.<\/li>\n<li>For the record: never keep a criminal matter private because you fear your report will hurt the public perception of a religious body, political entity, or any other institution. Souls are eternal, organizations are not. Individuals are more important than institutions. This is true even of denominations and individual congregations \u2014 Jesus died for the Church and not for a brand. 1 Corinthians 6:1\u20137 tells us to forbear in civil matters, but when it comes to criminal matters Romans 13:1\u20137 is the relevant passage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gty.org\/library\/blog\/B180813\">Social Injustice and the Gospel<\/a> (John MacArthur, Grace To You): \u201cI am convinced the only long-term solution to every brand of ethnic animus is <em>the gospel of Jesus Christ.<\/em> In Christ alone are the barriers and dividing walls between people groups broken down, the enmity abolished, and differing cultures and ethnic groups bound together in one new people (Ephesians 2:14\u201315). The black leaders with whom I ministered during the civil rights movement shared that conviction. The evangelicals who are saying the most and talking the loudest these days about what\u2019s referred to as \u2018social justice\u2019 seem to have a very different perspective.\u201d This is apparently the first in a series.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.weeklystandard.com\/let-the-whorehouse-burn\">\u201cLet The Whorehouse Burn!\u201d<\/a> (Christopher Caldwell, The Weekly Standard): \u201c\u2018As of this evening,\u2019 said Pierre Moscovici in Luxembourg in June, \u2018the Greek crisis is over.\u2019 Moscovici, a French Socialist politician who serves as the economics commissioner of the European Union, was making quite a claim\u2026. Today, despite what Pierre Moscovici and his colleagues said in Luxembourg, Greek debt, at 179 percent, is higher still. The latest E.U. deal requires Greece to run large budget surpluses until the year 2060 to repay the debts brought on by the E.U.\u2019s own mismanagement. The country is in some respects worse off than it was when Greek protesters mobbed the parliament in May 2010, howling, \u2018Let the whorehouse burn!\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/resources\/idt-sh\/norways_hidden_scandal?utm_source=pocket&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=pockethits\">Norway\u2019s hidden scandal<\/a> (Tim Whewell, BBC): \u201cHis conviction puts the spotlight back on a system which has been heavily criticised by some parents \u2013 and by leading Norwegian professionals in the childcare field \u2013 for being too quick to put children into care, splitting families unnecessarily. The disgraced psychiatrist has had his professional licence revoked, meaning he cannot work in the same field again. But parents who\u2019ve lost custody of children in cases he was involved in believe all his previous decisions should be reviewed.\u201d This is outrageous.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2018\/08\/colorado-civil-rights-commission-jack-phillips-case\/\">Colorado Defies the Supreme Court, Renews Persecution of a Christian Baker<\/a> (David French, National Review): \u201cOn the very day that Phillips won his case at the Supreme Court, a person emailed with yet another deliberately offensive design request: \u201cI\u2019m thinking a three-tiered white cake. Cheesecake frosting. And the topper should be a large figure of Satan, licking a 9\u2033 black Dildo. I would like the dildo to be an actual working model, that can be turned on before we unveil the cake. I can provide it for you if you don\u2019t have the means to procure one yourself.\u201d And finally, two days later, a person identifying as \u2018Autumn Marie\u2019 visited Phillips\u2019s shop and requested a cake featuring a pentagram. According to ADF, \u2018Phillips believes that person was Autumn Scardina.\u2019 Rather than recognizing Scardina\u2019s conduct as nothing more than a bad-faith campaign of harassment, Aubrey Elenis, the director of the Colorado Civil Rights Division, found on June 28 \u2018probable cause\u2019 to believe that Phillips violated Scardina\u2019s civil rights\u2026.\u201d&nbsp;<ul>\n<li>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/erlc.com\/resource-library\/articles\/when-opposition-to-religious-liberty-becomes-silly-petty-and-vindictive\">When opposition to religious liberty becomes silly, petty, and vindictive<\/a> (Andrew T. Walker. Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission): \u201cWhen our creative director walked into my office to notify me [that our ministry was being discriminated against by a company], my first response was to smile. Why? Because the ERLC had been the victim of discrimination, and I knew an opportunity like this meant the ERLC could pursue the moral high ground. What progressivism does to dissenters, we would not do to them\u2026. No lawsuit was necessary. No media storm was called for. We have zero desire to force the discriminating company to agree with us or comply with our demands. No one was holding the other hostage to their ideological expectations. The power of choice and the freedom of viewpoint diversity allowed two actors to pursue a pathway of pluralism.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/0J5rmzl.jpg\">A great optical illusion<\/a> (imgur) \u2014 if you have a hard time at first, rotate your head while looking at&nbsp;it.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/dilbert.com\/strip\/2018-08-17\">Dilbert\u2019s Email Etiquette<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IoYo3cpQQpw\">Kelvin Chow \u2014 Outrageously Smooth Card Tricks<\/a> (Penn &amp; Teller Fool Us, YouTube)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Things Glen Found Interesting A While&nbsp;Ago<\/h3>\n<p>Every week I\u2019ll highlight an older link still worth your consideration. This week we have&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/view\/articles\/2016-08-12\/every-place-has-detractors-consider-where-they-re-coming-from\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every Place Has Detractors. Consider Where They\u2019re Coming From.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Megan McArdle, Bloomberg View): \u201cThere is grave danger in judging a neighborhood, or a culture, by the accounts of those who chose to leave it. Those people are least likely to appreciate the good things about where they came from, and the most likely to dwell on its less attractive qualities.\u201d Bear this in mind when listening to conversion testimonies (both secular and religious). This serendipitously happened to be next in the sequence of older links. It fits very well with the above article about evangelical purity culture. (first shared in <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2016\/08\/12\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-62\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">volume 62<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors \u201cwho understood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agenda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agenda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ideological Turing test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI disagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI understand\u201d) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I\u2019ll usually mention it).<\/p>\n<p>Also, remember that I\u2019m not reporting news \u2014 I\u2019m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There\u2019s a lot happening in the world that\u2019s not making an appearance here because I haven\u2019t found stimulating articles written about&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n<p>If this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way. Things Glen Found Interesting Our Hope Is Coming (Steven Longoria, Denison Forum): \u201cThe world we live in would tell \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2018\/08\/17\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-165\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 165\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Devotional thoughts, a surprising number of articles about Europe and some straight fire about #churchtoo.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[170,226,160,159,117,138,147],"class_list":["post-5123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-devotional","tag-europe","tag-how-the-church-is-perceived","tag-justice","tag-politics","tag-religious-freedom","tag-sexual-assault"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1kD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5123"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5127,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5123\/revisions\/5127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}